It’s evident from these statistics that a growing number of churches today are struggling, and in need of revitalization…

  1. 300,000-360,000 of the 400,000 churches in the U.S. are plateaued or declining.
  2. 40,000 of 47,000+ Southern Baptist churches are plateaued or declining.
  3. After the COVID crisis, church attendance is down 20-40%.
  4. In the past 10 years, the U.S. population has grown by 10% while church participation has declined by 10%.
  5. More than 72 churches close their doors each week in the U.S. (3,760 churches each year!). *

What does church revitalization mean?  SCBI defines it as the spiritual process by which the Pastor and his church leaders learn together to embrace the changes necessary for health and growth.  Another way to think of this is “revitalization”—what we want to see happen in churches throughout our State!

If your church wishes to experience revitalization, we recommend that you start with a church-wide extended prayer emphasis.  The Lord of the Church is the One who will enable you and your congregation to embrace His biblical principles for health and growth!  If your church wishes to have free copies of SCBI’s “Praying with Jesus: 40 Day Prayer Guide,” contact jhorn@scbi.org (while we cannot provide free shipping, we will work with your church to get them delivered to your location).

Corpus Church Revitalization is another valuable resource that SCBI recommends for its churches. Written by Dr. Rob Peters, an experienced Southern Baptist pastor who has led churches through spiritual revitalization, the Corpus process is now being used in churches effectively throughout the SBC, as well as internationally.  This resource is based on biblical principles that guide churches to become spiritually vitalized for pursuing God’s mission in their context. Here are some items that this resource includes…

  1. The role of the pastor is key in church revitalization. He must be a wise elder, a transformational shepherd, and a skilled overseer (leader).  Corpus includes tools such as the Pastor Readiness Assessment (SCBI discount cost: $99.50) for the pastor to evaluate his skills and growth areas, and to receive coaching to prepare him for leading a church through revitalization.
  2. The overseers in the Bible illustrate a six-step process in leading God’s people effectively: accurately assessing where God’s people are at, rightly positioning them for growth, clearly casting vision, multiplying disciples, rallying other leaders, and effectively executing a plan for revitalization. For more info, see https://scbi.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/1022-Corpus-Church-Revitalization-Flyer.pdf
  3. When a pastor and his church are ready to begin this Corpus ReFocus six-step process, the pastor and a team of his church leaders will participate in 24 hours of interactive biblical discussion with a Corpus Pathfinder. They will also assess their church culture (assumptions about what the church is and how they “do church”) through the Vision Receptivity Assessment, and follow biblical principles in developing their comprehensive, customized church plan for growth and health. The cost of this SCBI-discounted ReFocus process and the materials is $500.
  4. When their plan is complete, the church will launch this with their Pathfinder, and continue to receive coaching as they implement the new vision in the coming years.
  5. For more information about Corpus, see these videos at corpusvitae.org and https://scbi.org/corpus-church-100revitalization-process/ , connect with one of our SCBI Corpus Coaches or Pathfinders by emailing jhorn@scbi.org, or purchase The Overseer book by Dr. Rob Peters on sale beginning in June 2023.

While Corpus is designed for churches of all sizes and contexts, if you think it doesn’t fit your need, SCBI offers other resources for pastors and church revitalization.  Contact us at the email address above for recommendations.

It’s been a pleasure to partner with our SCBI churches in taking steps toward church health and revitalization, and SCBI will continue to connect with your church for advancing God’s Kingdom.

*=   We wish to express our appreciation to Dr. Rob Peters and corpusvitae.org for these statistics.